Boot Camp!

Fri, 2011-07-22 17:57

Recently, as I was sitting at a local Starbucks working on my HVAC Woman of the Year story, I glanced over at the cork board that had local advertisements hanging on it. One advertisement in particular caught my interest. It was for a boot camp workout class. Wow, I thought. I wish I had the time to go to a boot camp workout class. Then my eyes followed the class description and noticed that the class met at 5:45am, 3 times a week. Yikes, that's early…but what else am I going to be doing at that time except sleeping of course! I jotted down the website and got back to transcribing my woman of the year interview.

In the part of the interview that I was transcribing, Jaimi Lomas was telling me how active she was not only through volunteer work, but physically too. “I'm currently taking a boot camp class,” were the next words out of her mouth. OK, I thought. This is a sign. If our HVAC Woman of the Year can run a successful department and company, do volunteer work, attend organizational meetings and still find time for boot camp class, then I have no excuse for not signing up! So sure enough, I signed up and started my first boot camp class the following Monday, bright and early.

The class meets at a local park and attendees are supposed to bring free weights, a jump rope, a medicine ball and resistance bands. The instructor turns on some music and we start at 5:45am sharp. The class basically combines cardio, resistance training, and weight training. Now, I've done plenty of group exercise classes, but nothing touches this class as far as intensity. At ten minutes in to the class, I feel nauseous, I'm dripping with sweat and I'm praying for the abdominal workout to be over so we can move on to something else. And I happily paid good money to be put through this. What was I thinking?? I push through the rest of the drills as Maroon 5 blasts out of the iPod speakers “Is there anyone out there cause it's getting harder and harder to breathe.” I'm pretty sure some thought was put in to this play list. After the first class my legs felt shaky as I walked to the car. I was drenched with sweat and I was too nauseous to drink the water I brought. My workout bag with all my weights in it was way heavier than it was when I got there. I climbed in to my jeep thinking, â€˜I have six more weeks of this. How am I going to get through this?'

I'm now in week 4 of the class and I've noticed something. I'm actually getting stronger. I can do a real pushup, (actually more than one) and not the girlie kind. I have more energy. I wake up before my 5am alarm goes off. I'm in a better mood, and overall feel less stressed. Wow…I guess these workout buffs know what they're talking about when they say claim that working out better for your health all around!

Do you encourage your employees to be physically fit? Do you offer a company discount at a local gym? It's important for business owners to have a healthy staff. As employees get more fit they will be in better moods, get sick less often, have more energy and self confidence, and be overall better leaders. Look in to wellness programs in your community to see what you can offer your staff. It will be good for business!